Amara La Negra Gave Fans an Intimate Look at Her Family’s Hometown in DR

Amara La Negra recently traveled to the Dominican Republic to perform at the anniversary for local Dominican TV channel Telemicro in Santo Domingo and promote her upcoming Daniel Aurelio-directed feature film Bendecidas, but she also took some time to reconnect with her homeland, opening a window into her roots by documenting the experience on her Instagram account.

Though Amara was born and raised in Miami, her parents hail from San Cristóbal. “The sazón, the sandunga, the melao that I have come from here,” she says in a video recorded in San Cristóbal, fittingly soundtracked by Sergio Vargas’ “La Quiero a Morir.”

The “Insecure” singer documented her visit with part of her family on the island, showing its people and their neighborhood so her fans can see her humble origins. “I wanted to show you guys the human side of me, where my family comes from, where I come from, my culture, my people,” she explains in one of the Instagram videos. “I know that artists for the most part just like to show the luxurious life and cars and jewelry, and all these things that – at the end of the day, it’s not real. This is real.”

Her photos and videos show her candidly greeting her community, teaching her little cousin how to milly rock, and posing with a tambora. There’s even a cute framed picture on the wall of a relative’s house from the era when she was crowned Miss Chiquitita on Sábado Gigante and became a Univisión star.